Does Your Flashlight Make You More Visible in Starfield? Answered

Stealth has always been a pillar of Bethesda Game Studios’ titles, and Starfield is no exception. This time around, not only is there a dedicated skill tied to the sneaky attribute, but there are also plenty of consumables to amp up your stealthiness. Nevertheless, the game occasionally doesn’t explain certain mechanics, and one question that crops up a lot is: Does your flashlight make you more visible in Starfield?

Does Turning Your Flashlight Off Make You Less Visible in Starfield?

From our experience, yes — turning your flashlight off does indeed make you less visible to nearby NPCs and enemies. In other words, if you’re trying to sneak past or pickpocket a target, it’s much more effective when you turn off your flashlight by holding down the L1 button. If you keep your flashlight turned on while you’re sneaking, you’re more likely to be detected.

General Stealth Tips for Starfield

On the whole, stealth in Starfield is far more challenging than in the studio’s other works like Fallout 4 and Skyrim. Even once you’ve ranked up your Stealth skill, enemies and NPCs are still much more aware of their surroundings and can spot you from quite far away. Once you’ve been spotted, groups of hostile targets can also communicate with each other and tell one another where you are.

In light of this, we’ve compiled a handful of additional tips for those looking to play a more stealthy playthrough in Starfield:

• Make sure that you have a suppressor equipped to make the most of your stealth build.
• Take your spacesuit off if you’re looking to be as quiet as possible. Of course, only do this indoors as taking your spacesuit off while traversing a planet will likely spell your doom.
• Using the Chameleon mod, which can be found on some spacesuits, helmets, and jetpacks, will help you stay extra stealthy.
• The Void Form Starborn power is perfect for stealth builds, as it’s even more powerful than the aforementioned Chameleon mod and can make you completely invisible to enemies.

And that does it for our guide explaining whether turning your flashlight off makes you less visible in Starfield. For more, here’s how to get Jake’s Hangover Cure and where Vulture’s Roost can be found. Otherwise, keep it locked at Twinfinite for more guides and articles as they come.